A man who dedicated an entire year experimenting with different diets tested out eight different dietary approaches – and argued one was the ‘worst of them all’ due to its excessive restrictions.
Throughout 2024, Gavin documented his dietary journey on TikTok, trying out a new eating habit each month, and in January 2025, he posted a recap of his trials with a brief take on each regimen.
Kicking off with Veganuary, Gavin embraced a plant-based diet for January 2024. The goal with a vegan diet is to abstain from eating any animal products, often for ethical reasons, but some claim it can also provide health benefits, as long as followers make sure they are consuming enough of all essential nutrients in their diet and using supplements if needed.
“Although I did take a little while to get my nutrition balance spot on, once I reached that, I felt great,” Gavin shared. “It’s a good diet if you’re thinking about your health long-term.”
In February, he tried Slimming World’s approach, which encourages participants to eat home-cooked meals. While he found it enjoyable, he noted that it lacked lessons on managing food challenges ‘in the real world.’
However, he seemed to prefer it to the Huel-only diet he embarked on throughout March. Medical professionals typically warn against using meal replacement shakes as your only source of sustenance, advocating instead for a varied diet rich in whole foods.
Gavin had mixed feelings about his liquid diet experience. “I saved so much time. I didn’t have to do any food planning or shopping or cooking, I just bought Huel and drank it,” he said. “On the other hand, it slowly destroyed my love for food, and it’s not something you’d ever want to live on.”
His next dietary experiments included intermittent fasting in April, which sees participants alternate between eating and fasting periods, and the paleo diet in May, mimicking the eating habits of our Palaeolithic ancestors while shunning processed foods. Although initially appealing, Gavin didn’t think either was a sustainable lifestyle choice.
However, he expressed a particular fondness for the Mediterranean diet that followed in June, praising its holistic approach involving eating a mix of eating fruit, vegetables, beans and pulses, as well as lean proteins like chicken and fish.
“It was an entire philosophy about embracing life and food at the same time,” he reflected. “Only downside is that you eat bread with every meal. And even though I loved bread, that was still quite a lot of bread.”
Gavin resumed his regular eating habits in July before embarking on the low-carb diet, also known as the keto diet, in August. Gavin said that since his active lifestyle normally demands carbohydrates for energy, cutting them out left him feeling exhausted – a common critique of the keto diet, which many argue lacks sustainability.
Taking a break in October, he then tackled what he described as the most challenging diet in November – the carnivore diet. This limited regime only permits meat, fish, eggs, and select dairy products.
Gavin experienced some mental benefits, such as clarity, from this diet; however, Diabetes.co.uk noted that it omits fruit, vegetables, and starch, potentially leading to deficiencies and health risks.
“It’s infinitely more restrictive than veganism is, not to mention the heart disease and cancer,” Gavin remarked. “It’s a short-sighted approach to food, basically, for people who don’t care about the long-term consequences of their diet.”
In a following video, he contended that the carnivore diet appeals to those who ‘hate food,’ stating: “I personally love food, therefore the carnivore diet is absolutely stupid, because I can’t even eat [an orange],” thus voicing strong opposition to its restrictive nature.
Gavin then confessed that the most significant hurdle with the diet was its restrictive nature, which hindered his social life. After joining friends for meals and drinks, he felt sidelined due to his limited dietary options of only meat and water.
“[This] meant I was excluding myself for no other reason than some arbitrary rules in a stupid diet,” Gavin admitted, leading him to abandon the diet to fully enjoy his social interactions.
The NHS strongly advises anyone considering a diet to consult a doctor or dietitian first.
They emphasise the necessity of a balanced diet, which involves consuming a diverse range of foods in appropriate proportions and maintaining an optimal food and drink intake to achieve and sustain a healthy body weight.
It is not recommended to try extreme diets.
